3 soldiers attacked outside Jewish center in Nice, France

Security Police Forces cordon off the area where three soldiers, patrolling outside a Jewish Community Center as part of the country's Vigipirate security measures, were attacked by a man with a bladed weapon, on February 3, 2015 in downtown Nice, southeastern France. (AFP Photo/Valery Hache) / AFP

At least two soldiers guarding a Jewish community center have been wounded by a knife-wielding attacker in Nice, in southern France, police say. The country has suffered a spate of hate crimes in recent months.

The attacker pulled out a 20 cm blade and struck one of the
guards on the chin. As two others tried to interfere, he swiped
at them, hitting one on the forearm, and another on the cheek.
None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.

The suspected attacked then attempted to flee by foot, but was
quickly stopped and detained. Mayor Christian Estrosi told local
television that an ID card with the name Moussa Coulibaly, a
common West African surname, had been found on him, and said that
a search has been started for potential accomplices.

An unnamed official said that Coulibaly was aged about 30, and
had a past record of theft and violent crime.

Mayor Estrosi immediately took to Twitter to condemn the attacks,
and demand a “heavy punishment” against the perpetrator.

Some 10,000 extra troops and police have been assigned to
potential extremist targets, following the Islamist attack on the
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last month. More than 20 people,
including the perpetrators, perished in the initial assault, and
subsequent crimes, as the attackers attempted to get away.

In what may be a coincidence, one of the gunmen, who killed four
people in a kosher store in Paris, before being shot by the
police, also bore the same surname as the suspected Nice
attacker. Amedy Coulibaly pledged his loyalty to the Islamic
State in a video recorded prior to his death.

The Nice attack came on the same day as French authorities
arrested 8 suspected Islamic State recruiters in Paris and Lyon.
Interior minister Barnard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday that 161
anti-terrorist investigations are in progress, with 547 people
identified as parts of terror networks, though many recent
attacks in the West have come from so-called "lone wolves" -
radicalized individuals, who plan and carry out the attacks
without help from a terrorist cell.